Fears that genetically-modified (GM) crops could spread antibiotic-resistance genes to bacteria may be unfounded, according to new findings reported in New Scientist last week.
A team of researchers at Leeds University is studying a strain of GM maize with a gene that confers resistance to a commonly-used antibiotic, ampicillin. There are fears that such genes could spread to gut bacteria when the maize is fed to animals. These bacteria might eventually spread the same gene to hospitals, helping life-threatening bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics.
But the scientists, led by Dr John Heritage, have tried and failed to get bacteria to take up the antibiotic-resistance gene from the GM maize. Although the results are encouraging, more work needs to be done, says Heritage. He now plans to test what happens when the GM maize is fed to sheep.
The maize was genetically modified to produce a toxin lethal to the European corn borer, a major maize pest. Unlike other GM crops, it also contained an antibiotic-resistance gene, called bla. This led a British committee to recommend a European rejection of the maize in 1996. Derek Burke, chair of the committee, says he is glad the government spent money investigating the speculative scenario.
Meanwhile, James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, attacked the Prince of Wales over his anti-GM views last week. He accused Prince Charles of 'pandering to superstition'. Dr Watson said the Prince appeared 'not to like science', according to a report in the Daily Mail. He warned that the sorts of groups the Prince was attaching himself to, such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, were the same ones who 25 years ago were trying to stop scientists making vital DNA discoveries.
Sources and References
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So far so good
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Prince's GM 'superstition' attacked by Nobel winner
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Researchers ease fears on GM crops
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